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I couldn’t move from the grisly scene, too stunned by the sigils glowing on the daggers.

A heavy body barreled into my back, arms wrapping around my waist in an unforgiving tackle. Air whooshed from my lungs as my attacker toppled on me. With my arms locked at my sides, I couldn’t break free from the male’s grip.

Heat simmered in the air surrounding me. It began as a comfortable warmth protecting me from the crisp air, but the temperature quickly rose. I was sweating within seconds.

I thrashed on the concrete, attempting to stab my assailant’s thigh. But it was a futile effort.

My skin burned—blisters ready to form. Unable to hold it in, I screamed. This wasn’t the first time I’d suffered from thermal manipulation. A few of the king’s favorite warriors had this ability, and it was one of his many methods of conditioning me to withstand pain throughout my childhood and teen years.

The guard Scarlett and I had faced wielded ultraviolet magic like it was the power of the sun, whereas this Kinetic’s magic controlled external heat temperatures. The air around me broiled like an oven.

As the heat rose, I grew limp. My heartbeat skyrocketed to a dangerous pace. In that exact moment, over the years, I’d learned to find a place of peace…to force my mind to hollow out from the panic and pain.

I focused on my heart rate and willed it to slow despite the torrid blisters and scalding skin. I squeezed the Elemental dagger in my palm, letting it ground me as I withstood the agony.

The Kinetic Warrior pinned me on my side, wrapping my legs up with his own to where they were immobile. My arms were anchored to my waist, and he held me at an angle that ensured his head was out of striking distance.

My wrists were the only part of my anatomy I could move. And if done right, they could inflict a wound. All I needed was a single cut, just enough to make him loosen his hold on me.

The warrior thought he’d won as he took my stillness as defeat. But just as my father had instilled in the guild’s training, he wouldn’t yield until I was undoubtedly dead.

I stopped fighting the pain. Instead, I welcomed it, imagining it burning away the trauma of my past and present. With a jerk of my wrist, I jabbed blindly anywhere I could that would penetrate his skin. I stabbed, stabbed, and stabbed, unsure if I was causing any actual damage to him. Finally, after several attempts, I felt him flinch with a grunt.

The Kinetic loosened his grip on my arms, so I threw an elbow behind me. It connected with bone. The heat ceased its wrath, and my body beganto heal the burns—slowly. I rolled away, narrowly escaping the warrior’s attempt to recapture me.

Crouching, he yanked a knife from his weapon belt. I didn’t recognize him, but I recognized the sharp focus of a Kinetic Warrior in his eyes. He rose to his feet, stalking toward me as I struggled to get to my dagger. The blue-lit sigils of a Kinetic blade shouldn’t cause me lethal damage, but doubt wiggled in at the memory of nearly dying on the train from the stab wound. A stab wound inflicted by Griffin withmyknives.

I tried to buy myself some time for my body to heal. Falling into shock was no longer a threat, but I had to act fast—faster than the rate at which my body was healing.

I sat up on one knee, and with a well-placed aim, I launched my dagger at my opponent. It wasn’t my best throw, as it wobbled just the slightest through each rotation. But it was enough to sink into the soft flesh of his thigh, cutting through corded muscle. He dropped to a knee and snatched the dagger from his leg. It hit the ground with a clank.

I surged to my feet, pushing myself through the dissipating pain of the burns as I charged him.

The redfern,infused within the dagger, cut off his healing ability while suppressing his thermal magic. I snatched the weapon from the ground and sliced my blade across his throat with cold indifference.

Blood sprayed me again, coating my clothes, but thank the gods it missed my face this time. The warrior collapsed at my feet, an expression of shock forever marred on his face.

I took a moment to observe my surroundings. The sound of weapons clanged on the other side of the building.

Griffin, I thought with a brief sense of panic seizing my chest.

Since when did I care if he lived? I shoved the thought aside, passing it off to the fact he had answers to my endless questions. He couldn’t die without giving them to me.

I raced to the end of the alleyway he’d disappeared into when we were first attacked. The scene that unfolded brought me to an abrupt stop. The sight of the insanity I beheld stole my breath.

Holy shit.

An entire garrison of Kinetic Warriors bore the weight of the elite Royal Guilds upon Griffin. He fought in the center of a horde of warriors who attacked him using weapons and energetic magic. The most disconcerting part was how he wasn’t even the underdog in this fight.

In a blur of motion, he moved with lethal, beautiful movements—dancing with grace and strength so savage. All I could do was gape at the whirring of his orange blades of his double-edged sword that cut down every Kinetic it touched.

Slice. Stab. Kick. Elbow. Slice. Slice. Block. Slice. He flowed with smooth precision between each blow while he utilized every limb. Each strike resulted in a dropped warrior. He was brutal and unrelenting yet lithe and fluid in a fatal dance. I’d never seen anything like it.

Thiswas the notorious Griffin Silas.Thiswas why the king wanted him dead.

Kinetics dropped like flies, but more kept coming in their place. At this rate, Griffin would soon tire, and then they’d be on me. He needed help. And as skilled and powerful as I was, I couldn’t do what Griffin was doing.

I raced into the legion of warriors, slicing and jabbing the areas of their gear I knew weren’t protected.